The Afrobeat star, Femi Kuti, has revealed that her decision to leave her father, the band of Fela Anikulapo Kuti, was driven by the desire to find her own identity and escape from the overwhelming pressure of living in the shadow of Fela.

Speaking in the Podcast Afropolitan, the 63 -year -old said that while he grew up, he was constantly compared to his father and pressed to follow his steps, a reality that left him with suffocation.

“When growing at school, everyone would be like, ‘Are you not going to be like your dad or don’t you play music?’ I was pressed to be like my father.

Femi recalled how his father’s influence extended even to his appearance. “It was like Mini Fela because I usually dressed like him. I thought I should look quickly, or I will be a very unhappy man. So I returned to my mother.”

He added that starting his own band was a difficult trip, since his father’s loyal fans and the press initially turned against him.

“Being under my father, I had no chance of my own life, even having children. I saw my life in his life,” he said.

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